Biraja Temple, Jajpur – History
The Viraja Temple is one of the
most prominent Shakta Peetha of Orissa. This Shrine had been mentioned in
Mahabharata and Tantric Texts. Chodaganga, the founder of the Ganga dynasty of
Kalinga, patronized and favored the shrine of Viraja, as the conquered the
surrounding area in 1110 AD. The outer wall of the jagamohana of the Viraja temple
contains two inscriptions of the time of Chodaganga.
Gajapati Rulers also patronized
the Temple. The Temple also became associated with the cult of Jagannatha. The
Bata Avakada, a work of the sixteenth century Oriya poet Balarama Dasa, refers
to her as one of the divine female attendants of Lord Jagannatha along with
Vimala, Saptamatrikas, sixty-four Yoginis, and nine Katyayanis.
Sri Chaitanya, a 16th
Century CE Vaishnavite saint also stated that he visited Viraja Temple and
prayed to the goddess when he passed through Jajpur in the early 16th
century CE. The invasion of Orissa by the Muslims of Bengal in 1568 CE caused
destruction to the medieval temple of Viraja at Jajpur. It is evident from the
fact that the temple itself was entirely rebuilt at a certain stage of the
modern period.
As per local folklore, a Muslim tyrant
Al Bukhari, an Afghan iconoclast follower of Kalapahar, the commander-in-chief
of the armies of the sultan of Bengal, was responsible for the destruction of
many Hindu monuments at Jajpur, including the temple of Saptamatrikas. The
ruins of Saptamatrikas were used in the construction of his tomb. The presiding
deity, on the basis of its iconographical features can be dated to the Gupta
period (5th century AD). The present temple was built by late
Choudhury Sudarsana Mohapatra in the 19th century.
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